Workers rushed to contain an oil spill Monday from a coal-carrying ship grounded on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, sending two tugboats to stabilize the vessel so that it would not break apart and further damage the fragile coral beneath.

The Chinese-registered Shen Neng 1 rammed into Douglas Shoals late Saturday, an area that has shipping restrictions to protect what is the world's largest coral reef and one that is listed as a World Heritage site because of its gleaming waters and environmental value as home to thousands of marine species.

About 2 tons of oil have already spilled from the 1,000 tons of fuel on board, creating a 100-yard slick that stretches 2 miles, Marine Safety Queensland said in a statement.

Queensland State Premier Anna Bligh said a boom will be put around the ship by today to contain oil leaking from the hull. Aircraft sprayed chemical dispersants to try to break up the slick Sunday.

"Our No. 1 priority is keeping this oil off the Barrier Reef and keeping it contained," she told reporters in Brisbane.

Bligh said a salvage team had reached the ship Monday and was attempting to stabilize it.

"It's in such a delicate part of the reef and the ship is in such a badly damaged state, managing this process will require all the specialist expertise we can bring to bear," she told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio The ship's owner, Shenzhen Energy, a subsidiary of the Cosco Group that is China's largest shipping operator, could be fined up to 1 million Australian dollars ($920,000) for straying from a shipping lane used by 6,000 cargo vessels each year.

"This is a very delicate part of one of the most precious marine environments on Earth and there are safe authorized shipping channels - and that's where this ship should have been," Bligh said.

She said the risk of the ship breaking apart appeared to have lessened since the first tugboat arrived and reduced its movement.

The bulk carrier was taking about 72,000 tons of coal to China from the Queensland port of Gladstone when it slammed into the shoals off Queensland's coast.